std::string vs string in c++

Possible Duplicates:
Why is 'using namespace std;' considered a bad practice in C++?
Using std Namespace

Ive been hovering around a bunch of different forums and i seem to see this pop up every time and again. Its a very much beginner question.

I usually define a program with

#include

using namespace std;

string x;

I see a bunch of code samples out there who define a string as

std::string.

What is the purpose of this? is it good practice or have some functionality?

Answer

As the other answer already stated, using std:: is necessary unless you import either the whole std namespace or std::string (see below).

In my opinion it's nicer to use std::string instead of string as it explicitely shows that it's a std::string and not some other string implementation.

If you prefer to write just string though, I'd suggest you to use using std::string; instead of using namespace std; to only import the things into the global namespace that you actually need.